Mikato's Fire
by PurpleKatana23
Summary: My first fanfic ever! Mikato, a weak, sickly girl from Briney Town of the Shinwa Region, is starting her pokemon journey. No one expects her to make it. But can she? Rated teen for language said mostly by me. Chapter 8 is up.
1. Ch 1 Dim Embers

When Mikato doesn't have anywhere else to go, she sometimes goes to the old shack on the beach to watch the Gorebyss and Wailmer breech. Somehow, sitting on the cold sand floor and watching the Pokémon jump from the water so gracefully makes life seem that much less scary. Then again, for Mikato just about everything is scary.

She got up, wiped the sand of her shorts and started to make her way home. The sun was setting and her mom and dad would be expecting her home. The thing is, she didn't expect much of a warm environment at home. For the past month her parents had been separating themselves from her by keeping quiet around her and sometimes ignoring her presence completely. Mikato guessed it was because they were just preparing her long leave of absence.

Or more likely: their preparing themselves for when she comes back. Because they honestly think she won't survive her Pokémon journey. Many people including them expect she will come back to her hometown not a victor, but rather in a box.

* * *

Mikato got barely a wink of sleep that night. Thoughts kept going around in her head like a sock in a dryer. What if her parents and virtually everybody in Briny Town is right? What if she really won't survive her journey? What if she's too weak?

The constant news reports of trainers being attacked on the trails came to mind. It's because of the danger of it and the severity of the attacks that had killed over twenty-two young trainers in the past year, the legal age of a trainer keeps rising. Mikato felt lucky when the age was raised from fourteen to fifteen last year, but indeed time moved to fast. And now here she was, shedding tears of dread as she watched the sun rise on her fifteenth birthday. Her favorite sleeping clothes, though it kept her body toasty, did nothing to warm her heart.

But she still wiped the tears from her mint green eyes, changed into day clothes and made sure she had everything packed. Clothes, food, cooking supplies, about 2,500 of saved poke dollars (though Mikato wasn't sure how far it would get her in _this_ economy), a fishing pole, and a deck of cards; Mikato has always been the type of person to be able to plays solitaire for hours without getting bored.

She slung the heavy pack onto her boney shoulders and quietly tip toed out of the house, wary of waking her parents, whom she could hear snoring quietly in their room. She really didn't want to go through saying goodbye to them. Knowing them and herself; the possibilities could range anywhere to no interaction at all or her crying, begging to stay home; and she wanted neither of them to happen.

Before she headed off to the lab in her hometown, she stopped off at the beach. She sat in the abandoned, empty shack one more time and watched the sun paint the water pink and yellow. She took one more deep breath of the salty air and made her way to the professor's Pokémon lab.

As a man that hates to wake up early, Professor Palm had chosen the wrong job.

Everyday he has to wake up at dawn to be able to feed all the Pokémon in his seaside lab, a task that seems to go on forever. The entire time it takes goes from sunrise to noon sometimes. It was when he was getting ready for the tedious task when he discovered he didn't have to get Mikato from her home. He found her curled up on his doorstep sleeping when he was getting the morning newspaper. He shook her shoulder to wake her up.

When she woke up, she looked up at him with confusion, "Palm, what are you doing in my room?"

Poor kid, Palm thought, "Mika, you're at the lab. Today's the day you get you're first Pokémon and go on your journey."

She was silent for a moment before letting out a small moan of sadness. But she got up anyway and went through the door.

Prof. Palm led Mikato to the guest room and told her to sleep, "You'll need the energy. I'll get back to you once I'm done."

So Mikato climbed under the Pikachu covers and closed her eyes. She fell asleep quickly.

_Mikato could feel flames caress her skin. She stood in a small circle of fire, and the orange blazes lapped her arms but it didn't burn. Indeed, it felt warm and loving, more like a hot bubble bath. The thing is, even though Mikato knew she should be terrified, the fire actually made her feel calm and, could it be possible, brave? But not far into the distance she could sense a malevolent presence outside her safe circle of flames. Did she dare leave the safety of the fire and face her fears head on? She never found out; she woke up. _

Mikato found herself in the guest bed in the Briny Town lab, as she should have. She climbed out of covers to find Prof. Palm sitting on the couch. He had lines of worry on his face, which reminded Mikato about how Prof. Palm, whom is thirty-three, can pass of as a man in his late forties. "Palm, what's wrong?"

"Hmm," he turned to face her, "Oh, nothing, don't worry about it." He got up, "Follow me."

Prof. Palm led her to a room in the lab she's never been in before. It was different from the other rooms in the lab: white, sterile, and bright fluorescent lights. In this room, the walls were painted bright, cheery colors and pictures of dancing Marill and Pichu. The air was thick with the calming smell of lavender and apples, and the lighting was set to a dim mood lighting.

Prof. Palm explained, "Most of the starter Pokémon you are given are still very young, and the unnatural, bright surroundings of a typical science lab would be shocking to them. So we keep their surroundings calm until we gradually get them used to unfamiliar areas. Now then, without further to do."

He pressed a button on the wall and a hole appeared on the floor. A glass shelf rose from it. On the shelf were three racks each containing four poke balls. Each rack had its own color: red, blue, and green.

"The color of the racks show what element the Pokémon in the poke balls are: fire, water, and grass. Each of those poke balls carry the starters of each region; them being Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, and Sinnoh. Now, Mikato," he placed a warm hand on her shoulder, "Choose wisely."

"Okay." She walked to the shelf and stared at the potential partners intensely. She pondered: what will it be? Fire, Water or Grass, and even then its still up to chance what she gets.

Then she remembered the dream she had. How the flames made her feel so strong, so brave, like nothing could hurt her.

Her hand hovered over the red rack for a moment, "Now remember Mikato, whatever Pokémon you choose, you will have it forever."

She nodded. Eventually her hand came to the third ball on the rack.

"All right then. Now throw the ball and we'll know what your partner is."

"Okay," she took a shaky breath and hoped it would be nothing too scary, "Poke ball, go!"

She threw the ball and with a flash of white light, an orange fire erupted warming the room by twenty degrees. And before she knew it, Mikato was staring into the dark, narrow eyes of a small creature with orange embers on its back, "Cyndaquil!"

As Mikato looked down at the small creature with flames on its back, a weak smile tugged at the corners of her lips. She kneeled down, "Hi Cyndaquil." She tried to pet it but it instantly curled up into a protective ball.

"Cyndaquil are fairly timid and easily startled," Prof. Palm informed.

Mikato found that description fairly accurate for another being in the room. "Hey, it's okay Cyndaquil. I won't hurt you." She than gently patted the Cyndaquil's back. It slowly relaxed and uncurled its body. It looked up at her with wonderment, probably wondering who the giant was, or why she was being so affectionate to it.

"You should return it to its poke ball. We should be going on."

Mikato looked at the shiny, red and white ball in her hand. She really didn't want to put her new partner back in there. She didn't know how exactly the devices worked, but she imagined it couldn't be to comfortable for long periods of time. So, instead, she lifted Cyndaquil up and cradled it in her arms like a baby.

Prof. Palm sighed, "Fine."


	2. Ch 2 GoodBye Briny Town

**EDIT: All right guys, this is a replacement, due to the fact that I uploaded the same chapter twice without knowing it and it had in fact taken me MONTHS to notice. Might as well call me Mega Fail, but let bygones be bygones I guess. Anyway, this is Chapter two of Mikato's Fire. **

Mikato's looked down at her lap, seeing her Cyndaquil, whom was male according Palm. It had fallen asleep and was snoring softly. She smiled a bit, happy to see that she actually had the sheer gumption to just get up and do this. But underneath that was a deep melancholy that refused to lift.

Prof. Palm put an arm around her shoulder. "You'll be glad you did this Mika, trust me."

Despite the encouragement, Mikato's lower lip trembled. She placed a hand on her starter Pokemon's back for comfort, but it didn't help much. She got out her new, shiny Pokedex and fiddled around with it. Off course she, as a person who spent as much time in Prof. Palm's lab as she did at home, knew what the device was and what it was made for. It's a contraption first made in the Kanto region that held and recorded info on Pokemon.

She and Prof. Palm had made their way to the bus stop at the edge of Briny Town, where a bus specifically meant for this purpose would take Mikato to where her new journey would begin, and where that would be, she had no idea.

Throughout the entire time Mikato and the professor walked through the town, other people out and about gossiped behind their backs. Of course everyone knew Mikato Costello: she's that weak, skinny girl who can't go through a month without going to the hospital, and will most likely not make it through her journey, and she, supposedly a smart girl, was stupid for doing it.

These insults hurt her badly, but Mikato knew deep down that she had to do this. She just _had _to.

She looked away from Cyndaquil and at Prof. Palm. He smiled a bit, making the crows feet at the corner of his eyes deepen.

A thought hit Mikato, and she said, "I'm going to miss you Prof. Palm."

"Mika, I've known you since you were a toddler. I think we can go by a first name basis. Please, just call me Akira."

"Okay Prof. Palm, I mean, _Akira._" She felt a blush spread across her face, a tad embarrassed. She looked back down at Cyndaquil, who seemed to be dreaming.

All of a sudden, Akira threw his arms around Mikato and squeezed her tight, and she hugged back out of reaction.

He whispered in her ear, "Mikato, listen. They're all wrong. Every single one of them, your parents even. You are not going to die, I just know it. And you shouldn't think you will, think life Mikato, your not going to die, from attacks or otherwise. Trust me on this one. I've seen off literally hundreds of trainers, and I don't think I've seen a more potential winner in my life. "

This brought hot tears to Mikato's green eyes, and she hugged Akira close, thinking that she really will miss everything about him; his sarcastic but kind personality, his dark circles, his neglected stubble, the premature grey in his otherwise brown hair, and how one eye seemed to be a darker blue than the other one.

Then she heard the faithful screech of tires of the bus that would carry her away. She let go of Akira to wake up Cyndaquil, who, she could almost swear, smiled up at her. It was amazing how much Cyndaquil had bonded to her in a range of a few hours. Just a tad shy around strangers it seemed, but he warmed up to you quickly.

The doors of the bus swooshed open and Mikato went to the steps. Akira held onto her hand and squeezed it tight. "You can do it, Mika. I know you can, with Cyndaquil by your side."

Mikato stood silent on the first step of the bus, and then nodded, "All right." She took a deep breath. "This is it I guess. Wish me luck!"

She ran into the bus with Cyndaquil and it began rolling toward the unknown. Akira ran after it, waving and screaming his farewells.

Mikato stuck her head and hand out the window and did the same. Shiny tears streamed down her face, but a grin held fast. Right as the bus went out of sight, Mikato yelled, "Don't you worry, I'm coming back a WINNER!"

**Kind of short, I know. But it is still better than nothing, and a rather decent transitional scene. But that's your opinion…**

**STAY TUNED!**


	3. Ch 3 Thugs and Rattatas

**Hello readers! I'm here with chapter 3 of the story "Mikato's Fire". Took me long enough, right?**

**Well, anyway. From last we left off, Mikato Costello, with her new partner ****Cyndaquil, had****departed Briny town on the bus****. ****Where did it take them? Let's find out.**

Mikato, with the ever faithful partner Cyndaquil at her ankles, stared into the area where apparently her Pokemon journey would begin: the ever classic woods. But this wasn't some friendly, bug-infested woods where picnickers came to play, no. This, my friends, was Venom Woods of the Shinwa Region; possibly the most thickly-treed, rugged woods out there, much different from Mikato's sandy, ocean-scented home. Also, to top it all off, there were Poison Pokemon _everywhere_.

Mikato shivered at the thought of meeting a Poison type in the wild. Pokemon of the Poison persuasion have always creeped her out, how they all slithered or crawled around and the blank eyes that seemed to just dare you to get closer. Yeah, get a little closer. Get closer so I can bite ya, or so I can sting ya. Mikato sighed.

"Think life," Mikato said to herself, repeating the words of Prof. Akira Palm. "You are not going to die." With a shaky breath, she looked down at Cyndaquil who looked just as shaken as her, "C'mon Cyndi. I don't want to go in there as much as you do, but I have a promise to keep." She knelt down to re-tie her hiking boots.

Oh great, she thought; now I'm just stalling. She picked up Cyndaquil and _ran _into Venom Woods. She ran down the gnarled, single path there was in the forest. She had no intention of walking in the tall grass and capturing any new Pokemon. She did not even like the thought of being near a Poison Pokemon, why would she consider carrying one around?

After running for a good, solid twenty minutes, she slowed down to a slow jog, than to a jaunty walk, at this point letting Cyndaquil walk on his own; her arms were getting tired. While she walked, she took the time to take in her surroundings. The ground was rough and rocky, littered with twigs and dead leaves. It felt uncomfortable walking on it even with boots. The trees were tall and covered with choking vines. Occasionally, the leaves on the trees would shake from what Mikato guessed was bird Pokemon flapping their wings.

"Hmm," Mikato sighed and then her stomach rumbled, it startled her so much she actually jumped. "Oh," she said to herself. She looked at Cyndaquil who had curled into a ball at the sound of Mikato's tummy. She laughed, "Jeez, look at us, jumping at our own shadows. I feel so silly." Cyndaquil calmed down at the sound of laughter, "_Cyndaquil_," he started laughing himself.

"C'mon Cyndi, let's eat."

Mikato sat down on the bumpy ground, trying hard to get comfortable but failing none the less. With a sigh of relief, she took off the backpack she swore weighed one hundred pounds, and rubbed her aching shoulders. Carrying heavy loads had never been Mikato's forte.

She reached into the cavernous pack and took out a "light weight", blue cooler, opened it, and took out a thick roast beef sandwich, cut neatly in half. Before eating lunch (breakfast was eaten on the bus hours earlier, consisting of a greasy, fried egg sandwich and warm grape juice. Not exactly the most pleasing thing to eat in the morning), she placed her two first fingers on her jugular vein to check her pulse. Mikato had to worry about her heart, ever since early childhood, her heart rate would start to race out of control after exerting herself. The feeling of it was similar to a panic attack, heart beating a million miles per hour, a cold sweat, eye sight clouded over as if she were about to faint, and of course that over whelming feeling of helplessness. These "attacks" had landed Mikato in the hospital many times in her life.

Mikato forcefully shook her head forcefully making her over-long bangs swish over her eyes. The last thing she wanted to think about was the hospital: too many bad memories. Instead she took a big chunk off her sandwich, pet Cyndaquil on the back, and looked up at the sky. Chunks of blue peeked through the dark green leaves, it reminded Mikato of a lava lamp and she smiled a bit at that thought. She smelled the air, and the scent the wind carried was similar to the tree-shaped air fresheners people hang in their cars, only it had a more floral hint to it, like real plants.

Cyndaquil's short fur felt plush and warm under Mikato's bare hands, and it felt very nice to the touch. Of course, Mikato thought, it wouldn't feel as nice with the flames on.

Just as she swallowed another bite of her sandwich, the sound of a twig snapping startled her and Cyndaquil to the point of screaming. Cyndaquil jumped into her arms in fright. And out of the bushes came a horrible, frightening…Rattata?

A Rattata stumbled out of the glossy leaved bushes on its stubby legs, long whiskers twitching in a rodent like way. It had a ribbon of black silk tied around its neck.

"Hmm," Mikato whipped out her shiny, new Pokedex. She decided now would be good time to test it. She flipped it open revealing a blank screen and several buttons. It suddenly came to life when it was directed at the Rattata.

"_Rattata," _said a robotic female voice, "_The mouse Pokemon. Cautious to an extreme, its hardy vitality lets it live in any kind of environment."_

"Uh huh," Mikato said. She got up from the ground, eyeing the ribbon on the Rattata's neck. "I wonder who you belong to."

"Rattata," a rough, female voice said, "Hyper Fang attack!"

The previously cute Rattata's purple fur suddenly stood on end; it bared its big, sharp teeth and charged at Mikato with blinding speed. She managed to sidestep quick enough to evade what would have undoubtedly been a painful blow.

"What the hell," Mikato cursed under her breath. She turned around to see three hooded figures emerge from the woods, ominous and mysterious as Death himself.

"Well, well, it seems we've got some fresh meat," said the figure standing in the front most positions, presumably the leader. The figure spoke with the gravely woman's voice heard earlier. The figure took down her black hood and revealed a soft face, gentle pink lips, intricately braided purple hair and long-lashed brown eyes. Her appearance didn't fit her voice at all, as if she swallowed walnut shells daily.

The woman scowled at Mikato, "Well, what do you think Glass Eye, what do we have here?"

The figure on the woman's right took his hood off; he had short platinum blond hair and sky blue eyes, a pair of thick glasses gleamed in the sunlight making it appear he had no eyes sometimes, so the name Glass Eye made sense. He spoke with a strange speech impediment, "Gee, eye ee doon't knee owe See-Lean. Wha' do yee **(A/N: you know what, I'm not writing like this every time this guy talks. You all use your damn imaginations) **think Scarecrow?"

Mikato figured Glass Eye was referring to the last person who hadn't taken off his hood. The figure just tilted his head slightly to the left and Mikato saw a thin, white wire leading to his pocket and she deducted he was listening to headphones. She actually thought Scarecrow was a good name for him; his clothes hung off his body as if he were lacking the body mass to support the fabric, and straw blond hair stuck out of his hood.

"Oh Glass Eye you dolt," the female said in anger, "My name isn't Celine on the field, it's Amethyst. How many times do I have to tell you?" The newly dubbed Amethyst turned back to Mikato after her yelling and smiled, which looked like it should have been pretty but was turned into something ugly. "Well, little girl, you're sure being quiet. This probably won't be too hard then."

Out of Amethyst's dark cloak, she drew a lethal looking knife and that was when Mikato realized that it was _these _people that had been attacking the trainers on the roads and leaving them in the ditch. She felt her heart speed up in panic as she looked for an escape. "It's no use girl, Rattata, Hyper Fang again on the girl!"

The Rattata with the black ribbon appeared out of the bushes again and lunged straight toward Mikato. She stood right where she was; too astonished to do anything, her Cyndaquil was in the same condition by her feet.

Right as she was sure the Rattata's teeth would make contact with her face when she suddenly heard a new voice, "Torterra, Razor Leaf!"

A barrage of sharp leaves came through the trees and hit the Rattata with deadly accuracy, _it was a_ _critical hit, _Mikato thought for no reason. A tree toppled over, caused apparently by a trunk-like leg of a towering Pokemon with a tree on its back. Walking next to it was a man. _Holy God,_ _they're coming out of the trees! _Mikato thought manically as she whipped out her Pokedex again.

_Torterra, _said the Pokedex_, "The Continent Pokemon, the evolved form of Grotle. Small Pokemon occasionally gather on its unmoving back to begin building their nests. _

After the stream of leaves died down, the Rattata's legs wobbled, and it collapsed, eyes closed. "Good job, Torterra," the slightly feminine, but distinctly male voice said. He took out a Poke Ball and with a flash of red, Torterra was recalled.

The mystery man put the ball back to his belt and placed his hands on his hips, and walked to Mikato's position. He was a tall man with a frame-hugging white tank top with a Poke Ball design on the chest, black skinny jeans, a mop of shoulder-length, jet black hair and a tie dye scarf tied around his head. He placed a big hand on Mikato's boney shoulder, "Hey kid, hope I didn't startle you."

"YOU," Amethyst demanded, "What are you doing?"

"Your mom, that's what I'm doing," he said with a snap of his fingers.

A vein popped up on Amethyst's forehead. She said while gritting her teeth, "That's it, you asked for it." After recalling her fallen Rattata, and whipped out another Poke Ball. She prepared to pitch it, "Dustox, I choose you."

There was a flash of white light and a moth-like creature with green wings and yellow eyes flew into the sky. Mikato used her Pokedex again: _Dustox, the Poison Moth Pokemon. A nocturnal Pokemon. Drawn by streetlights, the messily eat the leaves of trees lining boulevards. _

"Hey," The man next to Mikato said again, "This is your battle. Now take your Cyndaquil, and tell it to use Ember."

"Huh," Mikato was still a bit dumbfounded by what had just happened. "Just do it, trust me. Now be brave, your Pokemon can tell if you're nervous."

She took a deep breath, "Okay." She looked down at her starter Pokemon, shaking like a leaf at her feet, "Cyndi, I need you," she practically begged. He perked up a little. "Good," she looked up at Amethyst and her Dustox. What she said next felt strange coming out of her mouth, "Amethyst, I challenge you to a battle."

She and Glass eye burst out laughing. "What," Glass Eye said, "With that baby Pokemon, I'd pay to see that!"

Amethyst had her hand on her mouth, "Yeah, isn't this a hoot, right Scarecrow?"

Still no answer out of him.

The dark haired man poked her back, "This is good. Now use Ember, while their guards are down."

She nodded, "Cyndaquil, Ember!"

The red spots on Cyndaquil's back disappeared in an eruption of orange flame and a much more powerful than expected blast of fire came out its throat, striking Dustox, and some of Amethyst's hair as well. The now charred and smoking Dustox fell to the ground, wings limp.

After the explosion of Hell Fire was over, Mikato stared at Cyndaquil, mouth agape, who was back to his small, cute self. "Oh my gosh," was all she could mutter.

Suddenly there was a scream of rage, Amethyst was pissed. "Oh, that was my last Pokemon, and my hair is ruined! What am I supposed to do now?" Apparently, she had forgotten that she had a weapon. She stamped her foot like a child, "Glass Eye, do something!"

"Don't look at me, I'm not even allowed to carry Pokemon, Boss said so, 'member?"

Another scream of rage from Amethyst, the queen of temper tantrums, apparently. Scarecrow still held his oblivious to the world position, unmoving. Mikato actually grinned. Despite having threatened her life, these people reminded her of Saturday morning cartoon villains, coming up with stupid but intricate plans and walking straight off cliffs. She decided to mess with them a bit, "Cyndaquil, smokescreen!"

A dark, inky smoke came from Cyndaquil's mouth instead of flames and coated the entire field of vision with it. Mikato covered her mouth and nose with her gloved hand and she saw the man with dark hair had slipped his scarf of her face. Mikato heard the group of three have coughing fits. She saw momentary glint of red light and then heard Amethyst say, "Let's jet, this kid's not worth our time!" The sound of running footsteps eventually faded away.

It took a few strong gusts of wind to blow away the smoke, and once the smoke dissipated, the new guy with the tie dye scarf gave Mikato a slap on the back, "Great job kid. Was this your first battle?"

She nodded, she looked down at Cyndaquil yet again, and he looked bushed. She kneeled down, arms open, "C'mon, I'll carry you." Cyndaquil happily complied.

"You've got potential kid." He looked up at the sky, "It's going to get dark soon," he took Mikato by the arm. "I got a camp set up nearby; we can get better acquainted there."

"Huh," Mikato thought for a moment. If it was getting late, that meant the day was almost over. That meant…a huge grin slowly across her tanned face…that meant she had survived day one of her Pokemon adventure, and won her first battle.

"Oh, wait till they hear about this back home," she whispered to herself.

"What was that?" The dark haired guy asked.

"Nothing, nothing," but it was far from nothing. On the inside, Mikato felt fireworks of celebration go off.

**Wow, what a day for Mikato, right? Stay tuned for the next chapter, Mikato Makes a Friend.**

**Also, since this took such a long time to get around to, I'll try to get the chapters up around every other week at the most, school and family permitting of course. **

**I'd like to thank Creation of Pokerus, pikachuhunter1, Hellfire Kitsune Zero, silentlysnowing, KingOfn0obz, and the anonymous people for sending me reviews. You guys are great. **

**Disclaimer: I intend no copyright infringement. Pokemon belongs to Nintendo. Mikato and the other characters are mine. **


	4. Ch 4 Mikato Makes a Friend

**Last time on Mikato's Fire, our hero Mikato Costello had begun her journey with her partner Cyndaquil, entered Venom Woods of the Shinwa Region, was threatened by a bunch of goons named Amethyst, Glass Eye, and Scarecrow, and with a little help from a man she had just met, won her first Pokemon battle! Now, she's on her way to the man's camp. Let's join her shall we?**

"My name is Chico Smith. What's yours?"

The newly dubbed Chico had taken our hero to his camp in the woods. It consisted of a huge, colorful tent, a sleeping bag with the initials CS sewn on it, and a welcoming fire for warmth and light, and it was set in a clearing in the woods probably meant for this very thing. Mikato stared into the dancing flames, remembering the Ember attack her Cyndaquil had done earlier. "My name is Mikato Costello. I just started my journey recently."

"Mm hmm," The raven haired man paused to drink out of his canteen, "So that makes you fifteen?"

"Yeah, I am. How old are you?"

"I'm twenty-four years young. So, your just a trainer right?"

"Yeah, I am, aren't you?"

Chico chuckled, "No, I'm a coordinator. I tried to be a trainer when I first started, but I just got so irritated with it. I mean, I swear to everything that is holy that I saw the same God dang Zubat every freaking day. But as a coordinator, I get to perform in front of people and have the crowd cheer for my sheer greatness. How about you become a coordinator and compete?"

Mikato didn't even think about it, "No thank you. I'm going to stick to being a trainer."

"Hmm, okay." He tipped his canteen upside down and a single drop of water fell to the ground. "Hey, sweetheart, there's a pond not to far from here, do me a favor and fill this up for me, won't you?"

Sweetheart, Mikato thought. Where'd that come from? She took his canteen, "Sure." She got up, stretching her long skinny legs, "Which way is it."

"A little ways that way," he pointed to the direction he brought Mikato from. "There's a sign pointing the way. Be careful though. It's getting dark, and night is the time when all the Poison Pokemon comes out."

She felt a shiver go up her spine, but she nodded anyway and she scurried off. After a few minutes, Mikato surely saw the sign, a big wooden arrow pointing due east a few paces away from she had her first battle. She walked in the direction it pointed and she found the pond, a sign proclaiming that its name was Mini Lake.

…Wow, Mikato thought, how creative. She just shrugged it off. The water was clean, and that's all she came for. She kneeled down and dunked the open canteen into the clear water and thought about Chico.

He was a friendly man no doubt, very social, and he was good looking too. Not in the typical, media standard, but in more of a soft, pretty sort of way. He was very feminine in the face, despite a crop of dark stubble on his pale face. He was quite a picture in the light of the setting sun. Kind of like a milky bit of crystal glinting dimly in the sun, or like whatever was glinting in the sun, blinding Mikato right now.

"Oh," whatever the sun was reflecting off of was obviously very shiny, she closed her eyes. Mikato opened one green eye slightly and saw the object on the ground. Her curiosity piqued, she closed the full canteen and walked over to the object and accidentally kicked it a little. That's when she saw it was somebody's Pokedex.

"Hmm," she picked it up, very curious indeed. The Pokedex was blue, indicating in belonged to a boy. Other than that, Mikato couldn't tell anything else about it.

"I guess I'll just hold onto it then," she slipped it into a pocket of her cargo pants, held up so delicately and barely on her skinny frame by her Trainer's Belt, which still held five vacant Poke Balls. She walked back to Chico's camp.

"Here," she gave him his canteen back. "Thank you sweetheart," just to show his gratitude he took a long swig of the water. Mikato lied down on her stomach across from Chico.

She took the Pokedex out of her pocket and showed it to Chico, "What do you think?"

"Hmm," he just stared at it blankly, "If you open it and press a button, you can get the owner's ID."

"Oh, that's a good idea," her cheeks flushed a bit. So she opened it, pressed the green button on the bottom left of it marked with an "I" and a picture flashed onto the screen. Mikato gasped. "What's wrong," Chico asked, concerned. Mikato showed the picture to Chico and he was a tad surprised as well.

It was a picture of a boy with pale blue eyes, ivory skin, and slightly unkempt facial hair. The text below the picture stated that his name was Ryu Anderson, he was sixteen years old, was five feet ten inches tall, and that his hometown was a place called Starburst Hamlet of the Shinwa region. All of this wouldn't had meant a thing if it wasn't for his hair. It was a unique shade of blond that Mikato had seen on only one other person.

"It's Scarecrow," she whispered, barely audible.

"Yeah, it is. It's funny though, nobody in Team Shadow carries a Pokedex. It's too conspicuous apparently."

Mikato raised an eyebrow, "Team who?"

Chico got a bit closer to her, "Team Shadow. They're the people that have been attacking the trainers…just another reason to be a coordinator," he smiled but it faded quickly. "They're all over the freaking place, but as I was saying, none of them carries a Pokedex. None of them are seriously trainers or anything, and they need to get rid of their identity so they won't be caught."

"You know an awful lot about them," Mikato said, eyeing her Cyndaquil, who was sleeping by the fire.

All was silent for a moment until Chico cleared his throat, "I-uh, I like to climb trees. Those Team Shadow grunts, they're not very smart, so they don't pay attention to what's in the trees. I heard them talking about a lot of stuff." He smiled a bit.

Mikato raised an eyebrow again, "You climb trees?"

"Oh yeah, all kinds of trees: maple trees, oak trees, willow trees, cedar trees, and so on."

"Um, okay. I thought you said you were in your twenties?"

"Yeah, I'm in my twenties, it doesn't mean I can't like climbing trees. 'Your only as young as you feel' that's what my grandmother told me."

"Uh huh," Mikato said.

"And I see a lot being in the tree tops all day. I even saw you in walking in the woods, that's how I knew you were in trouble with those goons. Wasn't that lucky?"

"Yeah, I guess so," another silence between them. "How long had you been watching me before hand?"

"Oh, since you stepped into Venom Woods. You fascinated me, looking all scared and new. So, I admit it, I followed you for a while."

Mikato was stunned; she didn't even think someone may have been following her, "Okay."

Chico's fair face suddenly grew serious, "You know Mikato I'm also pretty good at reading faces. You looked like you didn't want to be here at all."

Mikato felt her face get pale. "Mikato, answer me honestly here. Do you want to be a trainer or not? Because I've seen people go through half way through their journey then suddenly decide to go back home because they never wanted to be a trainer in the first place." He waited for an answer.

"I, um," Mikato stuttered for an answer. She decided that she'd put it out in black and white. "At first I didn't. I really didn't."

"I see," Chico said, "Go on."

"You see, I grew up very sickly as a child, spent a lot of my time inside. Most of everybody was set on accepting that I just wasn't going to be a trainer. In fact, I wanted to be a researcher. Briny Town's lab was something of a second home to me. I'm really close to the professor there because of that. But, you see, when I was twelve, I was in the hospital because I was having problems with my heart, and…I made a really good friend there."

She seemingly drifted off into space after that, but just as Chico was about to say something, Mikato snapped out of it, "His name was Shino White. I guess you could say we were childhood sweethearts." She chuckled, but it had no spirit in it.

"Shino was there for cancer, I forget what kind, but I remember his face quite clearly. He was very pale, blue eyes, dirty blond hair, he had very neat nails too, but I'm distracting myself. Anyway, things were great between me and Shino, but all of a sudden, his illness just got so bad, he couldn't even get out of bed. Then one night he just told me that he knew he wasn't going to make it. He told me, 'Mika, you know my life's dream was to become a Pokemon trainer and become a master, but now I guess I can't now.' I begged him not to say that but he insisted. But then he told me that maybe when he's gone, I could carry out his dream for him. He passed away in his sleep."

Mikato's lower lip trembled, but Chico put a comforting hand on her shoulder, "Thanks."

Chico looked at the sky, "Night time. Well, I'd like to keep talking but we should be hitting the hay. Get an early start on the day. Well, good night." He crawled into his monogrammed sleeping bag and lied his head down on a Togepi print pillow.

Mikato looked up at the sky herself and saw it had darkened into a bluish-black color and the twinkling stars were up. Just a tiny sliver of the moon peeked through the leaves, "I guess I'll get to bed then," she said to herself. She rolled out her own sleeping bag, got Cyndaquil and slipped into her bag, her partner Pokemon in her arms.

"Hey, Mr. Smith," Mikato called out to Chico.

"Yeah," he said sleepily.

"Do you want to be friends…with me? At least until we get out of Venom Woods?"

"Hmm, oh sure, you seem like a nice kid. Just as long as you stop calling me Mr. Smith, Mr. Smith was my father. Just call me Chico." He then put an arm over his eyes.

"Okay," Mikato had a strange habit of calling people by their last names. A habit she realized she had to break if she wanted to have a real personal relationship with anyone.

She sighed, "Good night Chico."

"Good night sweetheart."

**I positively hate writing about death, but at least now we know that our hero has a pretty darn good reason to go on her Pokemon journey despite her better interests. And to top it off, it seems she's gained a new friend. **

**Don't forget to review, tell me what you think!**

**I'd like to thank Creation of Pokerus, Pikachuhunter1, Hellfire Kitsune Zero, silentlysnowing, and KingofN0obs, and all the anonymous people for reviewing. You guys rock!**

**Stay tuned for the next chapter…I have no idea yet.**

**Disclaimer: I intend no copyright infringement. Pokemon is owned by Nintendo. Mikato and other characters were created by me! **


	5. Ch 5 An Offering To Celebi

**Last we left off, our hero Mikato, whom had just left her hometown of Briny Town for her Pokemon journey, had gone into Venom woods, met and defeated some know-nothing thugs and gained a new friend, 24-year-old coordinator Chico Smith. Now it's the second day of her journey, what is she up to? Let's find out!**

On a platform of stone, directly under a yellow beam of sunlight, stood an ancient structure built from blackened wood, it looked like a large bird house with an angular roof. All around it were small offerings of money and burnt out candles, which intrigued Mikato, "Hey, Chico," she called up to the man leaning back on a low hanging branch in a elm tree, "What do you think this is."

"Uh," he looked away from the apple in his hands, which he was peeling with small switchblade, "That I believe is the Celebi Shrine. You ever heard of Celebi?"

"Actually, yes I have." In her time hanging out in the Briny Town laboratory, she's read countless reports of Celebi sightings all over the world. Most she suspected were hoaxes, just pleads for attention, but some sounded as if they had some credibility to them. She had once even read a heartwarming story told by another professor in the Kanto region about a trainer having actually witnessed a Celebi take another trainer back to his own time. She couldn't quite remember the name of that trainer though; Ash Ketchup or something along those lines.

Mikato asked, "Should we leave something to?"

"Well, it's mostly just an urban legend but it's told if you offer the shrine money or light a candle, you'll have the watchful eye of the time traveler Celebi to give you safety during your travels. A lot of people claim it's true, so why not?"

"Okay," she reached into one of the many pockets of her cargo pants and took out a ten cent piece. She balanced the coin on one finger and flipped it into the air with her thumb. It glittered in the sun for a second as it was in the air and landed right in front of the statue.

Chico suddenly leapt out of the tree apple in his mouth. He landed next to Mikato with hardly a thud. "Chico, what are you_"

Chico shushed her before she could finish. He took a bite out of his apple, grimaced, and threw it away, "It's really sour." He pointed to somewhere behind the shrine. "You see that?"

Mikato had to squint to see in the glare of the sun, but she saw it. It was all she could do not to gasp, "It's a Spinarak."

The green, spider-like Pokemon was skittering across a tree trunk. "Battle it sweetheart."

"Cyndaquil," Mikato's partner said questioningly.

She thought about it for a moment. It was only yesterday that Cyndaquil had won a battle against a Dustox, but the Dustox hardly did anything and Amethyst, one of the goons she met up with, seemed less than a competent trainer, or Team Shadow grunt or whatever the heck she was.

So that means that Spinarak would make for excellent practice.

She gave Cyndaquil and Chico a nod and she got a few steps closer to the bug/poison Pokemon. "Hey," she shouted out to get its attention. The Spinarak did not look happy being having its activity of nothing disrupted. "Spin…" it said threateningly. "Oh," Mikato said, frightened. Poison Pokemon had always scared her, and this Spinarak looked less than thrilled.

Mikato took a deep breath and said, "Spinarak, I…"

The bug Pokemon suddenly attacked with String Shot!

A silken stream came at Cyndaquil, "Oh God, Cyndi, evade it!" Her Cyndaquil hopped to the right just in time. "Great, now do a…"

Mikato suddenly realized that if she did an Ember attack here, where the trees are dense and a ton of leaf litter was on the ground, she would not only put the Spinarak on fire but possibly the whole forest as well. _"Only you can prevent wildfires,"_ that's what Smoky the Ursaring used to say.

"Um, use Tackle!"

Cyndaquil tucked its head in and gave the Spinarak a full body blow. Mikato had the sudden image of it splattering on the tree like a real squashed bug, but she pushed the thought down quick. It was gross.

Luckily, the body of the Spinarak remained intact. Cyndaquil landed on his feet, prepared for the next command. Spinarak hopped onto the ground.

But...all of a sudden, the Spinarak scurried off and left.

There was a moment of awkward silence until Chico said, "Huh, I guess it didn't want to fight. You win by default, the sweetest kind of way to win if you ask me." He playfully winked at her with a sparkle in his deep blue eyes. Mikato felt a blush come to her cheeks.

They were about to get on there way, Chico had said they were close to the exit of Venom Woods, but there was a sound coming towards them; a very disturbing sound that sounded like creeping and crawling. It gave Mikato a creepy crawly feeling up her back.

Mikato slowly looked behind her, her heart in her throat. Her tanned face went stark white.

"Oh, oh no, this isn't good."

"What is it, Mika," Chico turned around and saw what got her so scared: the Spinarak was back, and it brought a few friends.

"Oh crap, your right, this isn't good."

The Spinarak had brought two members of its evolved form: Ariados. They stood next to Spinarak, staring at Mikato and Chico in what could only be a threatening glance.

With shaky hands, Mikato risked looking them up on her Pokedex, hoping the noise wouldn't set them off.

_Ariados, the Long Leg Pokemon. It attaches silk to its prey and sets it free. Later, it tracks the silk to the prey and its friends. _

"Oh, oh God, what do I do," Mikato said shakily, looking down at her starter Pokemon. She thought for a second that she saw his back glowing, but figured it was her imagination.

"You don't do anything," Chico said. "Let me take care of it."

He straightened out the tie dye scarf tied around his head and whipped out a Pokeball. He threw it, "Go Pokeball!"

Mikato expected the huge, decimating Torterra she saw yesterday, but what Chico actually chose was a little bit more shocking.

"Err," said the small, teddy bear-like Pokemon. It was a Teddiursa. Mikato used her Pokedex.

_ It lets honey soak into its paws so it can lick them all the time. Every set of paws tastes unique._

Mikato gave Chico a questioning look, "Why?" As in why would he choose such a cute thing for such ferocious bugs?

"Don't judge a book by its cover, Mika." He swished his long hair, the sun glistening on a bright yellow streak in his hair. "Teddiursa, Fire Punch the Ariados on the left!"

The Teddiursa curled its little paw into a fist and it ran straight towards the Ariados, which was at least twice its size, and gave it a fiery sucker punch to the face. It flew right off the ground and it hit hard on a tree. Ariados fainted as soon as it hit the ground.

The other Ariados started to use Poison Sting!

"Teddiursa, dodge it!"

It obeyed and back flipped out of the way, quite agile for something its size.

"Okay, now use Fury Swipes!"

It raised its little claws up and prepared to strike, but all of a sudden, Teddiursa looked straight up.

"Teddiursa, what are you doing?" Chico asked, but then he saw that Ariados was looking up as well.

Chico looked at Mikato, who was staring at them, almost hypnotized. Then at the same time, they looked up as well. Identical looks of horror came to their faces.

The Spinarak Mikato attacked earlier had gotten back up, a whole lot of back up.

In the tree tops were more Spinarak and Ariados, as well as Weedle, Beedrill, Venomoth, even a few Caterpie and Butterfree, supposedly gentle Pokemon, were thrown in there.

"Holy [_insert curse word of choice here_]," Chico whispered.

He and Mikato stood there in a stunned silence. Then in one quick motion he recalled Teddiursa and grabbed Mikato's arm. "Come on! Battling all of these guys are just going to piss them all off! Run!" And run they did.

Mikato was almost on Chico's back; Cyndaquil was at her heels, trying its best to keep up, and right behind them were a bunch of rouge bug Pokemon crawling or buzzing after them.

"Keep it up Mika; we're almost to the exit!" Chico yelled behind him at Mikato.

He was right. She could see the bright light at the end of the dusky Venom Woods. It was such a beautiful sight; it almost brought tears to her mint green eyes.

But then, her vision started to get darker. She felt blood rush to her head and her heartbeat went from a sprinting pulse to a slow, heavy pounding in chest.

_No, _she forcefully thought. _Not now, of all times. I can NOT have an attack now. _

Her heartbeat slowly went back to normal and her vision became clear again. She would breathed a sigh of relief for her heart problem not slowing her down, but something even worse happened.

Her new partner Cyndaquil tripped over a root and fell.

"No, Cyndaquil." Mikato ran back to her fallen Pokemon.

"Mika, no," Chico called to her, in a full frenzied panic now.

She picked up her Cyndaquil and braced herself, expecting the full impact of the army of bug Pokemon.

Instead, everything went quiet.

Mikato looked up and saw that the bug Pokemon had come to a complete stop.

For the longest time, Mikato just sat there, Cyndaquil in her arms, in a complete stupor. As she sat there, Venom Woods, for a moment, lost its woodsy smell of pine and leaf compost. It was replaced by the smell of flowers, in particular, rose. Plus, if Mikato squinted, she could see a greenish sheen in the air. It looked like a window, or more accurately, a shield.

She was just about to reach out and touch it when Chico yelled, "Mika, we can't waste time! Let's go!"

At that, she got up and ran with Chico to the exit of Venom Woods and into the safety of their new location.

When they left, the green shield fell and the bug Pokemon, wondering what exactly they had been doing, went back to their homes.

Then, the Pokemon that actually put up the shield and saved Mikato and her Cyndaquil came out from the trees.

"Bii," it said in satisfaction, its high, gentle voice having an echo-like quality to it. The Celebi went floated off, going back to its shrine.

_**Like that little Ash Ketchum reference I made? Speaking of Ash Ketchum, that chase scene with the Bug Pokemon reminded me of when he was chased by that flock of Spearow really early in the show. But it was Pikachu that saved him, not Celebi.**_

_**I'm PurpleKatana23, over and out. And as always, stay tuned! **_


	6. Ch 6 Like, so, yeah, ya know

_Amethyst and Glass Eye stood in front of their boss's desk, the boss himself giving them the stare of death. Amethyst twiddled with one of the many braids in her purple hair nervously and Glass Eye was too dumbstruck to do anything, he even didn't fix his signature glasses which were crooked to where only one eye was covered. A little souvenir from the scrape they got into in Venom Woods._

_ Anger broiled in Amethyst's chest as she thought of that kid; that little baby with her baby Pokemon. It should have been so easy. That scrawny, brown haired kid and that Cyndaquil should have gone down with no problem, but everything went wrong._

_ "So," the boss said, interrupting Amethyst's raving thoughts, intently dowsing her anger and replacing it with fear. The boss looked at the two Team Shadow grunts over his clenched fingers. "Let me get this straight. You, codename Amethyst, attempted to take a rookie trainer's Pokemon. Okay, that's actually something I approve of. But, instead of successfully apprehending said Pokemon and disposing of the trainer, you were defeated with quite some ease even with training in that particular subject, is that correct? _

_ Amethyst flashed a big, cheesy grin and nodded, "Uh huh." _

"_Also, to add to that little folly, instead of fleeing to the nearest Team Shadow hideout to recuperate, you and your partner Glass Eye decided to come back to our main HQ and _report_ your wrong doings. Am I right again?"_

_ Amethysts nodded again, unable to speak. Team Shadow's boss was an unspeakably scary man, especially when he was disappointed._

_ The boss suddenly got up from his seat and turned his back on them. One hand went to his chin, "Hmm. Now, I'm trying to decide whether to just fire you two right now or demote you to restroom janitors. Both sound equally good, it's such a hard choice."_

_ "Boo at see err," Glass Eye blurted out. He said "but sir" but in his own way. _

_ The boss winced at Glass Eye's unfortunate speech impediment which makes him put a lot of emphasis on each syllable of a word. Sometimes it provided a source of entertainment for the boss, but most of the time it just made him want to strangle the blond man. _

_ The boss turned around, eyebrows raised, "Yes?"_

_ Amethyst recoiled at the threatening tone in the boss's voice but Glass Eye didn't seem to hear it, probably didn't. It was no secret that Glass Eye was not very bright, in fact, it was a miracle that he managed to become a grunt, and it was mystery how he did rise to that rank to many, including the boss. That was why he wasn't allowed to be given Pokemon. He'd probably think it was stuffed toy or try to eat it or something stupid like that. _

_ "You see sir, that rookie girl trainer didn't defeat us by herself, she had help. Some guy wearing skinny jeans came out of nowhere and defeated Celine's purple thing." __**(A/N: as I said before, writing Glass Eye's speech problem is extremely annoying to write and you all will just have to use your imaginations. Aren't I just the worst?) **_

___The boss sighed. Glass Eye didn't even know what a Rattata was._

_ "And besides, that girl trainer and her fire thingy, they were something else. They are strong boss, very strong. You can't blame Celine for losing. Her bug thing didn't stand a chance."_

_ "Mm hmm," the boss was giving the two grunts an indifferent gaze when he noticed something odd about the group. "Weren't there three of you?"_

_ "Yes sir, there is." Amethyst confirmed; her usually deep, gravelly voice was unusually high due to her stressed state. "Our third member Scarecrow went to the nearest city from Venom Woods. He said he wanted to find out more about the girl we battled in Venom Woods, and that also wanted to look for something important, but he never told us what exactly it was."_

_ The boss stopped listening at Venom Woods, he didn't much care whatever else Amethyst had said. "Oh, it seems SOMEONE in your little group has relatively some brains. Celine, I want you and Scotty to go to Cobblestone City and make sure he's okay, and I expect you to kiss his boots when you find him because he just saved you necks from the unemployment line."_

_ "But sir," Glass Eye, real identity Scotty said, "What makes you think he's in Cobblestone City?"_

_ "Oh I don't know; maybe because that's the closest city to Venom Woods and has the first gym that new trainers go to so that's most likely going to be where your scary girl trainer would be." The boss sat down on his chair and Amethyst, or her real name Celine, and Glass Eye sort of stood there in a daze._

_ "Why are you still here? GO!" And they ran out of his office. The boss, after the two grunts left, rubbed his eyes and sighed, "I'm surrounded by idiots."_

Meanwhile, in the Cobblestone City Pokemon Center

The screen of the video phone flashed on to show a tired looking man in a white lab coat. "Hey there Professor Palm, oh, I mean Akira. Guess who's not dead!"

Akira's face instantly brightened at Mikato's sweet voice and gentle face, "Hey Mika, it's so nice to hear from you, I was starting to get worried."

"Oh, worried about little old me? To be honest I've never felt more alive."

Cyndaquil popped up and greeted Akira, "Cyndi is doing great too."

"Glad to hear that. By the way, I've been hearing that the attacks on trainers are on the rise, I want you to be very careful and it might be a good idea to travel in a group, strength in numbers and all. So please try to find some friends."

"Okay, thing is I've already got someone in mind." Mikato looked behind her to see Chico at the front desk, smooth talking Nurse Joy, "So, want to go out for coffee some time?"

"I don't like coffee," The strawberry haired woman said, giggling.

Chico flashed a sly smile, "I don't either."

Akira said, "Oh, well, make sure that person is safe. Anyway, catch any new Pokemon yet? Most trainers already have a few new Pokemon in their party by now."

"No I haven't, I just have Cyndaquil with me."

Akira started to look a bit worried at that. "Well, that's a little inconvenient. The gym leader in Cobblestone City uses Rock type Pokemon and that doesn't mix well with Fire types, try looking for a Grass type or a Water type to add to your team but just go with what feels right I guess."

"Okay, oh," Mikato suddenly remembered something. "Akira, something really strange happened to me in Venom Woods before we got here. We got into a scrape with some Bug Pokemon and they chased us, and they almost attacked Cyndaquil and me, but the thing is right before they did this-ah!"

A boy suddenly shoved Mikato, making her fall out of the chair she was sitting in and on to the floor. The boy took the phone out of Mikato's gloved hand. At the sight of the boy, Mikato covered her face and mumbled, "Oh, dear Arceus, no."

"Hey prof, remember me?" This boy looked oddly a lot like our hero Mikato: tall, brown hair, sun kissed skin, but that was where the similarities ended. His eyes were amber where as Mikato's eyes were green, and the boy had a muscular build and had broad shoulders where as Mikato was skinny. He wore a long-sleeved T-shirt with black sleeves and a white body, torn blue jeans, beat up, white sneakers and a necklace with rainbow beads.

"If I remembered every person I've ever met I'd have changed my name to Sugar Mama and proclaimed myself a miracle man from the future," Akira said, looking annoyed and fiddling with one of the many premature grey hairs in his messy, chin-length mop.

"Oh c'mon, you gotsta remember MC, the greatest trainer of all time from that lousy town of Briny." He sounded like he was trying to be gangsta.

"Uh, nope, not ringing any bells, sorry."

"Well, Imma gonna show you my sweet badges anyways." He took a case from his trainer's belt and opened it, revealing two shiny new badges from the gyms of the Shinwa Region. "Eh, what do ya think old man?"

That got Prof. Palm quite peeved. "I'm not old I'm only thirty two years old! Now get off the phone Makoto, I was having a conversation with Mikato."

"Ha, I knew you remembered me!"

"Yes, and I wish I couldn't you annoying, little…"

Makoto hung up. He looked down at the fallen Mikato and laughed. He walked away saying, "See ya at your funeral little girl." He walked out of the Pokemon Center laughing.

Chico walked over to Mikato and she looked up at him with sad eyes. He offered her a hand and she took it. "Who was _that _major jerk?"

"My cousin, Makoto Costello, he's seventeen years old and he claims to be the best trainer of all in the lame region of Shinwa." She rubbed the small of her back because it was hurt by the shove her cousin gave her.

"Does he always treat you like that?"

"He treats _everyone_ like that. He just thinks he's better than everyone else."

"Well then, next time you see him I want you to give him a good kick where the sun don't shine, okay sweetheart?"

Mikato laughed at the image, "Okay, I'll try. Say Chico, I have a pretty important question."

"What is it?"

"You wouldn't mind traveling with me a bit more would you? It's really dangerous out there and my friend Prof. Palm said it would be safer traveling in a group and right now you really the only person I trust and…"

Chico put a finger on Mikato's lips, "No need to beg. I like you, and besides, I need to travel to get to contests and we're heading in the same general direction with your gym battles. Speaking of which, you should get to work training for."

Thus, he took Mikato's small hand and led her out of the Center, Cyndaquil right behind them and excited for battle. They were interrupted by someone just outside the door.

"Excuse me, people, you two!" A high, airy voiced woman said to them. She was a small woman with silky blond hair going past her waist, large tortoise-shell shades, large lips covered in sparkly lip gloss, and her nails were long and perfectly manicured. Her attire consisted of a tie dye, bell-sleeved shirt that exposed her naval, bell bottom pants, plain sandals, and a peace necklace. In short, she looked like someone straight from the sixties. She also had a clipboard under her arm.

"Yes, what do you want?" Mikato asked.

"Uh, my Rochelle Rockwell and I'd like you to sign my petition for the Demanding Fair Treatment for Wild Pokemon Association. It's to record the voice of the people to kindly persuade the man to treat the rouge Pokemon in Cobblestone City fairly." She handed the clipboard with the petition and a pen to the duo.

Mikato took the clipboard, "Rouge Pokemon?"

"Hmm, new here aren't ya?" She pointed due east of their position. "Over there is a park that many people go and relax and, like, hang out and stuff. It has a really pretty pond where a lot of people go fishing and picnicking and stuff, but for the longest time nobody can even get close to it, they get sprayed with water or get splashed, and we, the people of Cobblestone City, suspect it might be a Pokemon."

"Really," Mikato said, interest piqued. "What kind? Chico, I'm signing your name for you."

"Uh, okay," hardly even a reaction from the usually bubbly Chico.

"We don't know any specifics quite yet but we do know it has to be a Water type Pokemon, 'cause, ya know, it's in water and stuff, and it must be fairly powerful. Some people even had to go to the hospital because of the injuries its water attacks gave them."

"Wow that really is something."

"Yeah, but it doesn't mean the man has to treat it cruelly, right?"

"Uh, sure I guess."

There was a moment of silence until Rochelle said, "Um, can I have my clipboard back? I only got the one."

"Oh yeah, sorry," She gave it back and Rochelle left with a wave of her dainty hand.

"Chico, call me crazy, but I think I just found my new Pokemon. C'mon, let's go to the park…Chico, what's wrong with you. You look like you've been drooling."

"Oh I have been Mika, I have. Strange things happen when you've met the girl of your dreams."

"I thought Nurse Joy was the girl of your dreams."

"That was the past little girl. You were saying something about Pokemon?"

"I want to go to the park and try to catch the Pokemon in the pond." Cyndaquil cried his name in agreement.

"Well, this is an unexpected burst of confidence in you, but I like. Let's go."

**Hmm, well, the gym leader of Cobblestone City uses Rock Pokemon, and the name of the woman they met is Rochelle ****Rock****well. Wonder who she is other than a hippie protester…**

** Anyway, stay tuned for the next chapter, where Mikato and company finds out what is in the pond and she possibly adds a new Pokemon to her party. **

** I'm PurpleKatana23, over and out! **


	7. Ch 7 Monster in the Water

** Okay readers of fanfiction, here we go for the next chapter of Mikato's Fire! I hope you like it!**

** Oh yeah, I do not own Pokemon and so and so forth…I'll shut up now…**

Mikato stared into the endless blue sky and watched the clouds roll by, enjoying the feeling of soft grass underneath her back. She could feel the warmth of Cyndaquil's body next to her. He was sound asleep, snoring softly.

The sun peeked out from behind a cloud, sending an incredibly bright ray of light down into Mikato's eyes but she did not seem fazed at all, she seemed to enjoy it even. Mikato had always loved the sun; that bright ball of fire in the sky. Looking at it had always made her feel so much more powerful, even when she was at her weakest.

Mikato's friend Chico Smith pointed upward, "Hey look, a flock of starly." He was lying next to her on the grass, his long legs stretched.

Mikato saw those little bird-like Pokemon fly high in the sky. Any other new Pokemon trainer would have gone nuts with their Pokeballs at the sight of them, but not beginner Mikato. She was only interested in whatever Pokemon was in the pond. She had already made up her mind; she was going to catch that Pokemon. It was powerful and a water type, which she needed. What else was there to consider?

"Mm hmm," she muttered. She, Cyndaquil, and Chico got up and walked to the very edge of the pond. The few people that were in the park gave them looks while they kept there distance.

"What are you staring at," Chico said to an old man that was giving them a stink eye.

"Hmm," Mikato looked into the pond. It was a small body of water but it was very deep, the bottom of it was pure, inky blackness. No sign of a Pokemon as far as she could see.

She took off one of her pink gloves and dunked the tips of her fingers into the water. It was ice cold, just like the winds from the nearby Weavile Mountains as winter was beginning to make its presence known. "I can't swim in this."

"Why is that?" Chico asked with confusion in his face. Before going to the park, she and Chico had formulated a plan over a lunch of cheeseburgers and fries at a place called Lucario Burger Shack. Being from Briny Town, Mikato was a naturally excellent swimmer, so it was planned that she would swim about the pond to rouse the Pokemon, maybe even catch it in its own element, but as it turned out, that was not the case.

"Swimming in water this cold even for a little bit can strain the body, maybe even put you into a state shock. It's dangerous even for a person in tip top shape." She placed a hand on her flat chest. "Imagine what it would do to me."

Chico nodded in understanding. Mikato had explained about her heart problem and her ill health during the same lunch that they discussed their plan.

"What are we going to do now?"

"Hmm," Mikato thought. "Hold on a minute. Chico, do you by chance have a Water Pokemon on you?"

"Huh, oh yeah, in fact I do!" He whipped out a Pokeball in a flash. "It's a Staryu," he added with pride.

"That's great. Now, I need you to make your Staryu go into the pond and look for that Pokemon and try to coax it out into the open."

He pushed a button on the Pokeball, making it bigger. "Okay, but my Staryu is still at a fairly low level, it can't battle that well."

"It's okay. I'm the one that's going to be battling it, not you."

"Point taken," he said with a nod. "Go Staryu."

In a flash of white light, the Star Shape Pokemon emerged in its shiny, star-shaped glory.

With a swish of his hair, Chico said, "I polish Staryu's red core with steel wool every Wednesday. It takes awhile to get that sought after sheen in the gem without scratching it, but it comes out shinier than a star in the end. It's well worth it."

"Okay, that's nice and all, but let's get down to business. This waiting's making me anxious," Mikato said as she finally realized there was something about Chico she did not like: he is a show off and a bragger.

"All right, all right, hold your Ponyta. Now, Staryu, I want you to go into that pond and use flash, and when you see a Pokemon, that's your cue to get out of the water as fast as you can. Now go!"

Staryu dove into the pond, swimming rapidly to the bottom. A moment of no activity passed, and then a brilliant white light came up from the bottom, illuminating the pond. "That's Staryu's flash attack," Chico said. "I taught it that all by myself. Oh, it's gonna win so many contests." The light eventually faded.

Then there was a stirring in the water. Staryu was swimming towards the surface fast. "Cyndaquil, get ready," Mikato told her starter Pokemon. Cyndaquil answered by saying his name and igniting the flames on its back.

Staryu rocketed out of the water and floated towards its master, who returned it.

"Here it comes," Chico warned Mikato. She felt a chill of anticipation go up her spine and for a moment, questioned whether or not she was really going to go through with this. Fighting a water-type with a fire-type was not the best of ideas, and she was scared of what exactly was going to come out of the water. For a second, she actually considered running away, feeling as if she could not face the situation. The two sayings from Prof. Akira Palm and her cousin Makoto conflicted in her brain: "Think Life" and "See ya at your funeral!"

But before she could make a decision, it came.

The pond seemed to explode, making a pillar of water spout out. Eventually the waters calmed and the Pokemon, feared by many in Cobblestone City and sought after by Mikato, landed on the shore in front of them. To the shock of many, especially Mikato and Chico, what landed in front of them was an enraged…

"A Psyduck," Chico said, confused.

Indeed, it was that yellow Duck Pokemon, famous for being portrayed by the media as a dummy amongst Pokemon. It was this Pokemon that was causing panic in Cobblestone City. This Pokemon, used for the entertainment of children and not much else, was the one sending people to the freaking hospital. Oh yeah, it looked pretty pissed off.

"Psy ya, ya, ya, duck, duck, duck," Psyduck screamed. Its hands characteristically on its head, and it were stamping its webbed feet on the ground. It took one hand off its head and rubbed an eye. Evidently, that flash attack hurt its eyes.

"Aw," Chico said. He walked over to the wailing Psyduck and kneeled down to its level. "It's so cute!"

The Psyduck stopped stamping its feet and concentrated its gaze to Chico. It stared at him awkwardly and then reared back it head. A powerful jet stream of water came out of its big, yellow beak and hit Chico directly in the gut, throwing backward a mile or two. He landed hard on his back and screamed, "Oh man that is one strong water jet attack! Good luck sweetheart," giving Mikato a thumb up.

"Oh," Mikato fidgeted a bit looking at Psyduck. She looked down at Cyndaquil, it back a blaze, ready for battle. She swallowed, and called out to Psyduck, "Hey!"

It immediately turned to her with its goofy yet intimidating gaze, making her shudder, but she recovered, "I challenge you to a battle!"

"Psy," the Duck Pokemon said, and immediately released another water jet attack!

Luckily, Cyndaquil dodged it just in time. "Ember," Mikato commanded, and Cyndaquil did just that, attacking Psyduck with fire.

Once the attack was done, Psyduck did not seem fazed, it just shook it off, but Mika could tell that it had lost health. "Cyndaquil, keep it up with ember and don't stop. Consistency is the key! Don't give Psyduck a chance to attack!"

And so, that is precisely what Cyndaquil did. Ember attack upon ember attack, the Psyduck was hit with fire over and over. It only managed to get one water attack on Cyndaquil, which Mikato thought was going to be devastating, but Cyndaquil, showing remarkable endurance and tenacity, just got back up again and continued with ember, all while Mikato's cheered and encouraged him. Then, it finally happened.

Cyndaquil fired one last ember, and Psyduck just stood there, blackened and smoking. A moment of tense anticipation passed, and then Psyduck just fell onto its face, "Duck…"

Mikato stood there opened mouthed, almost not believing what just happened. "Mika," Chico called to her, "Catch it already!"

"Oh yeah, right, got it!" She reached into her trainer's belt and took out one, vacant Pokeball. She pressed the button to enlarge it. "Pokeball, go!"

She threw it and it landed on Psyduck, it was sucked into the device with no problem. The Pokeball rocked around on the ground for a second, and then stopped. Mikato had captured her first Pokemon.

She ran over to it, picked it up, and held it to the sun. A wide smile spread across her face and she hopped up and down in pure joy.

"Yeah" she screamed, "I caught a Psyduck!" She made a peace sign from her hand in celebration.

She heard applause behind her to find Chico, Officer Jenny, and Rochelle Rockwell. "Great job sweetheart, I didn't doubt you for a second," Chico said.

"I heard someone was battling the Pokemon in the lake and I just _had _and see it for myself and make sure everything was alright, you're a credit to the community miss," Officer Jenny said, her blue hair bobbing as she clapped.

"Great job girl, your so, like, a great trainer," Rochelle said.

Mikato was face went apple red, "Thanks you guys." She put and hand to the back of her head in modesty.

Once the applause stopped, Rochelle said, "Just so you know, I use a Geodude and a Rhyhorn in gym battles."

"Huh," Mikato asked, confused,

Jenny answered, "Rochelle here is Cobblestone City's gym leader."

"Really," Mikato and Chico asked at the same time.

Rochelle took of her shades, revealing pretty, blue eyes, "You bet I am."

"Okay then, how about right now," Mikato said still fired up from the battle.

"No way has girl, in a few days maybe, right now you need to get your Pokemon to a center to, like, rest and heal. Just look at you Cyndaquil," She pointed to Mikato's feet and she looked down. Indeed she was right, Cyndaquil may have done a good job, but it was exhausted, and hurt.

"Oh," she felt sorry for not noticing earlier, "Okay." She picked Cyndaquil up. "I'll see you at them gym in a few days I guess," she asked quietly.

Rochelle smiled, "You bet you will, girl."

"Hey rock-loving, blond girl from heaven," Chico said, leaning close to her. "Wanna pick up some coffee later? It's my treat."

"Like, no way dude, I'm taken."

**End chapter**

**...What? Why are you staring at me like that? Psyduck is a BADASS Pokemon, and just because Misty's Psyduck wasn't extremely badass doesn't prove anything! **

** Anyway, remember to review, tell me what you think so far, and man, Chico totally got shot down. Hope he's not to hart broken. **

** See ya later, and stay tuned for more of Mikato's Fire!**


	8. Ch 8 Daddy, A Gym Battle, and Evolution!

**All right, the next chapter! Been under the radar for a bit, haven't I, but I'm back baby! **

**Last time in Mikato's Fire, Mikato had captured her first Pokemon: a powerful Psyduck. What's she up to now? Read on.**

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Mikato watched her team of two Pokemon: Cyndaquil and Psyduck, whom were wandering around the center, having been healed, making sure that they were getting along.

So far, the yellow Duck Pokemon seemed to be warming up very well to Cyndaquil, even showing that, in reality, she (Nurse Joy confirmed that Psyduck is in fact female) was a huge goofball of a Pokemon. She got Cyndaquil to roll on the floor laughing when it purposely tripped over its own foot, effectively falling on its face.

It had been a week since she caught it and Psyduck had cooled down remarkably from that angry and dangerous Pokemon it was. Mikato had a conversation with Joy about that and she told her that a trainer came through the Center, ranting on about accidentally catching a useless Pokemon and that he was planning on "ditching it". Right after that, the attacks in the park started up, so Psyduck was most likely the abandoned Pokemon and it was distraught.

At that, Nurse Joy frowned, "Don't be like that, Mika," she said. "No Pokemon is useless and abandoning it is one of the lowest things a trainer could do."

Now, Mikato was taking the time to just relax on one of the lobby's soft chairs and to prop her feet up on the glass table. Chico was in one of the rooms in the back of the center provided for traveling trainers, trying to take a nap. It was nice and quiet.

"Is there a Mikato Costello in the building," she heard Joy's familiar voice yell. "You have a phone call!"

She sighed and made her way over to Nurse Joy, who gave her the phone receiver. "Hello," Mika said, having not looked at the monitor of the video phone yet to see who it was.

She sat down on the little plastic chair and saw that it was Prof. Akira Palm. "Hey kid, how's it going?"

Mikato smiled really big, "Akira, how's it going grey streaks?"

Akira ran his fingers through his graying hair, "Stressful and tiring as always. Anyway, I heard you captured a new Pokemon?"

"How'd you know?"

"Saw it in the news. They talked about what was going on in Cobblestone City, the Pokemon in the pond, how it was captured, and they showed a snapshot of you and some guy celebrating. Who is that anyway?"

"Oh, that's the guy I'm traveling with. His name is Chico Smith, he's twenty-four years old and he's a coordinator." Akira gave her a look, causing Mika to say, "Yes, I'm sure he's safe."

"Good for you, I, huh," He seemed to be distracted and looked somewhere off screen. He seemed to say something, but Mikato didn't hear it since the receiver was away from his mouth. "Hey Mika, there's someone here who wants to talk to you."

"Okay," Mikato said, wondering who from back in Briny Town would want to talk to her.

Who it is was less than expected. "Hey sugar, how's it going?"

"Dad," Mikato said, caught off guard.

It was her father, Daisuke Costello. "Yeah, it's me." He smiled. Mikato's father was a rather attractive man: tan skin, blond hair that stumbled into his eyes, a dimpled smile, laugh lines, and green eyes just like Mikato's. "Catch any new Pokemon yet?"

Mikato all of a sudden felt so guilty, she could feel tears sting her eyes, "I'm sorry I left without telling you dad, it's just, just," her voice caught.

Her father shushed her, trying to comfort her, "Its okay babe. You had a chance and you took it. That's it. You did nothing wrong." He put a hand to the back of his head in a boyish gesture of modesty, "Look, when you left, Akira and I had a talk, and he raised a good point. Your mother and I were wrong in holding you back from something you believed in, and in thinking that you were too physically weak to go off on your own." He chuckled, but it was melancholic in nature, "And look at you now, you look healthier and better than ever."

That managed to put a smile on Mikato's face. "Yeah, guess your right. What does mom think about it?"

He shook his head, "Oh, you know how your mother is, stubborn as a Tauros." He got quiet and just looked at Mikato through the screen. "It is so nice to see your face again. So anyway, what Pokemon do you have? Get any badges yet?"

Mikato was overjoyed by this sudden interest in her Pokemon journey. "No badges yet, but I have two Pokemon!" She got out of the way of the screen and showed her dad Cyndaquil and Psyduck, who was playing tag it looked like.

"Wow Mika, your doing great." His smile faded. "I bet…Shino would be happy."

Mikato grew sad at the mention of her old friend's name, "Yeah, I guess."

Mikato felt a hand on her shoulder and she looked up to find a yawning Chico. "Hey, Rochelle's waiting, we need to go."

"Who's that," her dad asked.

"Oh, just a friend of mine, he's reminding me about something. I'm going to my first gym battle today."

His eyebrows raised, "Wow, that's great honey, do the best, good luck!" He waved good-bye and the screen went blank.

/

Rochelle, who had ditched the hippie get up for a more sensible ensemble of plain jeans, a T-shirt, and a sweat band, stood in the back of the gym, Pokeball in hand. "It, like, took you two long enough."

"Oh Rochelle, my beautiful rock-type expert in tie dye that still makes my heart ache, how are you this fine evening," said the heartbroken Chico, hands clasped together and hearts in his eyes.

"Like, it's gonna rain tonight." Rochelle Rockwell of Cobblestone City was not in the mode to talk to Chico. Right now, her focus was solely on the green-eyed rookie trainer.

Rochelle thought it wasn't the same girl when she saw Mikato. Her twin possibly, but definitely not the same girl, but it was. What was different was how Mikato held herself. She was timid and looked ready to flee at the snap of a twig like a startled Stantler when she first saw Mikato, but now the brunette had such a confidence in her stride, and her straight-backed posture just said that she knew she had power. Rochelle knew this would definitely be interesting.

She and Mikato allowed Chico to get out of the battlefield, a court made from chalk lines on a dirt field littered with rocks ranging from pebbles to huge boulders. The blond gym leader announced the rules, "A two-on-two match, you may substitute Pokemon if you wish, and, like, no time limit because those things suck, agreed?"

"Agreed," Mikato chimed, her eyes glowing from anticipation.

"All right, that's what I like to here." Rochelle through her ball, "Go, Geodude!"

A flash of light and the rock Pokemon was there, ready for battle.

Mikato used her Pokedex: _Geodude, the Rock Pokemon. Many live on mountain trails and remain half buried while keeping an eye on climbers. _

"Okay rookie, call your Pokemon."

"My pleasure, go Psyduck, show them what you got!" She threw her Pokeball and Psyduck came flying out. It hit the ground and did a little jig of excitement.

"Hmm, thought so, let the battle begin!"

The starting bell clanged and Mikato's first gym battle officially started.

"Geodude, use rock throw!"

"Psyduck, use fury swipes!"

Huh, thought Rochelle. This chick is more of a rookie than I thought. Everyone knows normal attacks don't work well against rock types.

But Mikato held onto that command. Psyduck evaded the hurled rocks with ridiculous ease and started to scratch away on Geodude's face, which didn't seem to affect it much at all.

"All right Psyduck, keep it up with those fur swipes!"

Rochelle had just about enough of this and decided to pull out the bug guns early "Geodude, use rock tomb!"

The ground began to shake and huge rocks began to litter the field and encircle Psyduck and Geodude.

Mikato grinned, "Great, now I got her," she whispered. "Psyduck, just dance your heart out!"

Despite the sheer size of the boulders, Psyduck managed to jump out of the circle of rocks and land outside of the would-be tomb with a twirl. Geodude, not reacting fast enough to Psyduck's sudden escape, proceeded with the attack and encased itself in its own attack!

"What just happened," Rochelle shrieked.

The rocks fell, revealing a less than fighting shape Geodude. Mikato finished it off, "Psyduck, aqua jet!"

Psyduck obeyed the command with marvelous results. It sprayed Geodude forcefully, and it fainted before it even hit the wall.

Rochelle returned her precious Pokemon, kissing the Pokeball profusely, repeatedly saying sorry. "What happened?"

"It's simple," Mikato said. "I used fury swipes first to gradually knick at Geodude's health and to lull you into a false sense of security. Then, when you used rock tomb, I told Psyduck to get out of range while your Geodude was still in the middle of it, and it damaged itself pretty good. Then I finished it off with Aqua Jet." She smiled, "See, sim_ple!"_

"Huh," Rochelle said, though really she didn't completely understand. She wasn't a pushover, but she still wasn't the most articulate person ever, but she didn't care.

She took out her next and most powerful Pokemon, "Evidently I underestimated you the first time, not again, like, don't even go there sweetheart." She pitched the ball as hard as she could out of frustration, "GO, Rhyhorn!"

The grey, horned Pokemon was unleashed and it heaved a mighty battle cry.

Mikato used her Pokedex once again: _Rhyhorn, the Spikes Pokemon. Its powerful tackles can destroy anything, but it is too slow witted to help people work. _

"Hmm," Mikato thought. "I better watch my toes for this one." She looked back and forth between her two Pokemon, and made a decision that seemed very odd to both Rochelle and Chico, whom had been sitting in the sidelines cheering Mikato on.

"Psyduck, return," she took out her ball and recalled her Psyduck while it was still doing its celebratory, victory dance. She pointed out to the field and told her ever present starter Pokemon, "Go Cyndaquil!"

Evidently, Cyndaquil felt Mikato's urgency and it skidded into the field, it's back flaming fiercely.

"Okay rookie, but don't start crying because your starter lost." She pointed directly toward Cyndaquil, "Tackle!"

Rhyhorn emitted yet another battle cry and charged straight ahead.

For a moment, it seemed Mikato was going to let Rhyhorn trample her beloved starter Pokemon, but no. She still had that sly smile on her face. She let Rhyhorn get as close as possible and Mikato ordered, "Cyndaquil, use ember directed to the floor, now!"

And so it was. Cyndaquil fired a huge blast of fire bellow it and it was actually _launched _twenty feet into the air like a rocket!

While Cyndaquil was still in the air, Rhyhorn kept charging blindly straight ahead, thus, ramming it rock-hard head against equally dense rocks. The impact was enough to send dirt flying throughout the field, creating a grey-brown smokescreen. What happened next, not even the witty Mikato foresaw.

The brunette rookie trainer thought she would use the dirt to her advantage, and simply said, "Ember attack!"

Thus, there was an ember attack, but it didn't stay that way. It swelled, going from a weak stream of a flame to an all out river. From the sounds of things, it was hitting its target dead on, and was having great results.

Eventually, the dust cleared, revealing a completely out of it Rhyhorn and the triumphant Cyndaquil. It wasn't Cyndaquil anymore though.

"It evolved," Chico screamed.

Indeed, Cyndaquil was now a Quilava!

And Mikato was the clear winner of the gym battle.

Chico put a fist to the air and screamed, "Way to go Mika! I knew you could do it!" He ran over to her and hugged her slim frame tight.

Rochelle recalled her Rhyhorn and ran over to Mikato. In her hand was a shiny thing.

She put it into Mikato's hand, "Mikato Costello, I, the gym leader of Cobblestone City gym leader, here by proudly present to you the Igneous Badge! Like, yeah girl!"

"That's great," she said almost dreamily.

In her hand was a tiny, shiny badge designed to look like a purple geode crystal. Then Rochelle gave her a hug as well, "Congratulations! Now, do that celebration thing you did when you caught Psyduck!"

Mikato didn't answer. In fact, she didn't seem to be there at all, mentally at least. Her gaze was distant and empty. Then she just fell to the floor.

Rochelle almost went into a screaming panic, until Chico reassured her that, after feeling her face, that she had fever, that she was ill and needed rest.

Chico shook his head, "She was probably sick since morning and she still came. I see potential in this kid, my blond sweet."

Rochelle nodded, "Me too. She's got a fire in her belly, that's, like, really special. She beat me with quite some ease. It's just four more leaders and the Elite Four, and I'm sure she'll make it."

"Yeah, yeah, that's nice, my pretty gem, but I'm pretty sure we should get her to bed now."

**

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**

**Sweet! Mikato's got her first badge, and now she's got a Quilava on her team! How epic is that! **

**Oh yeah, there really is only five gym leaders in the Shinwa region, and then you fight the Elite Four. I'd tell you more, but that would be spoiling it.**

**If you want to learn more, JUST STAY TUNED!**


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